Elyria captain headed to FBI academy

ELYRIA — Police Capt. Phil Hammond has been selected to attend a highly competitive Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Academy, a program designed for management-level officers.

Hammond, who handles administrative duties including crafting the department’s annual budget, will be admitted into the 256th class and will attend courses over three months starting in 2014. The program is in Washington D.C.

Police Chief Duane Whitely said Hammond’s attendance is a good thing for the department, even though it leaves him without a key member of his office staff for several weeks.

“The FBI academy has been going on for 60 to 70 years and the goal, especially on the local level, is to enhance the management ability of law enforcement departments,” he said. “They want to build up the leaders in law enforcement across the country and the world because there will be more than 200 people in this class from all over the world. Capt. Hammond will have the ability to work with and talk with all of these people creating contacts that will only help in his work here in Elyria.”

Candidates are only admitted to the program if they are in top physical condition and have the educational background to handle the coursework, Whitely said.

“There are several courses that are at the master’s level in law enforcement, but the one on budgets is a course I am requiring him to take,” he said. “He will be able to bring that information back to us so we can utilize the latest information on how to budget a police department in the 21st century.”

The last time Elyria had an officer attend the academy was in 1999. It was retired police Capt. Dan Jaykel who, after leaving the Police Department, worked a short stint as an assistant safety service director under Mayor Holly Brinda.